Conference Agenda

Session
FOR-649 (T): Making Waves in Coastal Archeology: Reevaluating Current and Emerging Field Methodologies for the Archeological Survey of Vanishing Shorelines
Time:
Saturday, 11/Jan/2025:
9:00am - 11:00am

Session Chair: Amy Borgens, Texas Historical Commission
 Location: Studio 10

Capacity 65

Presentations

Making Waves in Coastal Archeology: Reevaluating Current and Emerging Field Methodologies for the Archeological Survey of Vanishing Shorelines

Organizer(s): Amy Borgens (Texas Historical Commission, United States of America), Tracy Lovingood (Texas Historical Commission, United States of America)

Chair(s): Amy Borgens (Texas Historical Commission, United States of America), Tracy Lovingood (Texas Historical Commission, United States of America)

Panelist(s): Jessica Cook Hale (University of Bradford, United Kingdom), Amanda Evans (Gray & Pape, United States of America), Susan Langley (Maryland Historical Trust, United States of America), David Robinson (Massachusetts Board of Underwater, United States of America), Ryan Duggins (Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, United States of America), Chip McGimsey (Louisiana Division of Archaeology, United States of America), Jerry Androy (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District)

Environmental change such as global warming and sea level rise is contributing to coastal loss, with approximately 50% of both global and U.S. shorelines in an erosional state. Localized conditions can exceed these estimates, with some U.S. state shorelines having as much as 80% of their coastal areas in retreat. Shoreline erosion and subsidence are inundating terrestrial archeological sites and coastal construction projects and the hard armoring measures to abate these actions can detrimentally impact archeology in these areas. These rising threats require a reassessment of how coastal sites are investigated. The panel discussants will evaluate current methods of investigation for inundated intertidal and foreshore terrestrial sites to propose more effective and replicable modes of survey, site identification, and delineation. The goal is to establish a multidisciplinary consensus towards best practices for archaeological investigations in coastal areas.